Bharat Bandh: Mixed response in Delhi

New Delhi: The nationwide bandh called by the NDA and Left parties to protest the petrol price hike Thursday evoked a mixed response amid incidents of stone pelting, arson and road blockades in Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

In the national capital, the bandh did not evoke much response though party supporters blocked traffic in some places.

Small shops were seen open in many areas in the morning while commuters complained that there were few autos on roads as a number of auto and taxi unions have joined the protest.

In the financial capital, Mumbai, bandh supporters pelted stones at buses in two suburban areas of the city. Elsewhere in Maharashtra, activists pelted stones at 13 buses in Pune, 10 in Nagpur and Thane districts and stopped some buses by blocking roads in Satara district
Local trains and buses were plying as usual in most parts of Mumbai.
The bandh disrupted normal life in parts of BJP-ruled Karnataka where bandh supporters set on fire three buses and stoned about a dozen others forcing authorities to withdraw bus services in the city. Public transport was hit and shops and business establishments remained shut in several parts of Karnataka.

There was no impact of the bandh in Kerala and a lukewarm response to the stir in Tamil Nadu.
In Bihar, NDA Convener and JD-U national president Sharad Yadav and BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain were among 800 activists taken into custody while enforcing the bandh.
Yadav, who along with 700 odd supporters took out processions in Saharsa town to enforce the call, was taken into custody.

Hussain, the BJP National Spokesman, and others were detained in Bhagalpur town while trying to enforce the bandh.